Authorities raid Uptown medical center

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Authorities raid Uptown medical center

Agents from the Chicago Field Office of the DEA, the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS and Chicago police have shut down an Uptown clinic locals say has long been popular for all the wrong reasons.

Police were on the scene at Midtown Medical Center near Sheridan Road and Sunnyside for most of Thursday afternoon. They could be seen hauling away more than 20 boxes– some clearly patient files, others labeled “DEA Evidence.”

Residents say it’s long been an open secret in the area that for a couple of hundred dollars, a doctor at Midtown Medical Center will write prescriptions on demand. They allege that common requests are the painkillers hydrocodone and OxyContin and the anxiety medication Xanax.

In fact, some residents who said they were too fearful to appear on camera, say addicts from all over Chicagoland come to the clinic, often in groups, and that lines could regularly be seen outside.

Federal investigators declined to comment on those allegations, but an announcement about charges involving clinic staff is expected soon.